When Americans go to a hospital or visit a doctor, they expect that the drugs they need will be on the shelf — whether to treat an infection or save a life. They can’t imagine that a hospital might tell them their cancer treatment has to be delayed for weeks because of a drug shortage, or that the safest and most effective medications for their condition simply aren’t available.
The U.S. Needs to Reimagine Its Pharma Supply Chain
Overreliance on foreign suppliers is leading to domestic drug shortages.
August 12, 2021
Summary.
The pandemic has only exacerbated a previously existing problem: U.S. dependence on foreign manufacturers of drug ingredients and finished products that has resulted in shortages of critical medicines. The remedy is to create a domestic manufacturing capability, adopt new production technologies, and change what’s kept in the Strategic National Stockpile. This will require a partnership between the public and private sectors.